Statistics
by Bubblegum370
Summary: For Acacia life had never been easy because she was simply a monster. She had been running from everything including government agencies. Somehow she managed to become the personal assistant to Captain America. Just what is the likelihood of this situation?


Acacia stared out the window as the taxi… well the taxi wasn't doing anything. She had just flown into New York to visit a friend of hers. She had never been the sort of happy cheery person Elaine was, but that was why they were such good friends. She could be the positive to her negative.

She sighed as the noises of the city filled her ears. She wondered how she was going to survive here. She was the exact definition of a misanthrope. Very few people got to be near her and she would like to keep it that way. People had this habit of becoming disgusted or afraid of her. It was routine that she was used to and quite frankly it sucked. When the taxi jerked to a stop she groaned in frustration.

"How much?" Acacia asked. When the cab driver hesitated with his answer she threw the money at him and yanked her bag out of the car. Slamming the door shut behind her.

Acacia received a skeptical look from some fashion savvy woman that walked by her. She was wearing a black t-shit that had a lace opened back, worn blue jeans, and beat up Converse shoes. She saw nothing wrong with what she was wearing, it was comfortable.

She pulled out a piece of paper and ran a hand through her newly styled short brown hair. It had been changed before she moved out of the small obscure town she was living in. She had learned one thing from that town: it's easier to blend in with a large amount of people. Acacia had barely lasted three months there before they found her again.

She wasn't a law breaker or anything, just an extremely dangerous individual. Yep, that's right, she is a mutant. Not that she was an unstable mutant. Acacia had always had her powers in control, but nobody cared about that. She could function in society normally, if they didn't constantly try to find out who was different from them.

She sighed, trying to clear her thoughts about the topic. She walked through a park in Manhattan refusing to admit that she was completely lost. She gritted her teeth in irritation. She had barely been in the city an hour and she already hated it.

She looked around for anyone nearby. She saw a man jogging on a path towards her. He had a blue hooded sweatshirt on that had the hood pulled over his face. He was wearing athletic shorts that showed off muscular legs. He was possibly the best built human male she had ever seen, but she shook her head at the thought.

"Excuse me," Acacia said stopping the runner.

"Yes ma'am?" he asked.

"What the hell?" she exploded. "I'm nineteen and what are you? Some creepy, well built sixty year-old man? I don't get this stupid city and all I was going to do was ask where this building is!" she shoved the piece of paper at the stunned man while she tried to calm herself down.

"It's right there…" he said pointing to a building right behind him. He stared at her wondering why that had caused you to get so mad.

"Thank you," she stated. "Have a nice life and don't call women ma'am. Call them Ms. It will keep you on their good side."

With that she walked away from the male who stared at her before jogging away. She walked up to the building noticing how nice it looked. It was hard to believe that the girl nicknamed "Country Bumpkin" lived here.

But sure enough when she walked into the building she saw her. She came bounding toward you with her curly blonde hair bouncing with every step. As she dropped her bag onto the floor and opened up her arms to accommodate Elaine.

"You know I'd say you're happy to see me Elaine," Acacia stated. The girl pulled away and smiled. She shuddered at that smile, Elaine was definitely mad.

"Come on we better get you settled in now," she said picking up the bag and carrying it to the elevator. Acacia had a feeling she should run away from her, but she followed her into the elevator. Surely it was the most uncomfortable elevator ride of her life.

Behind closed doors Acacia waited for Elaine to turn around. Oh, and she did. She looked infuriated and dumbstruck.

"What the hell are you thinking?" Elaine asked. "I get a call eight hours ago from you saying that you were coming to stay with me because you had been found. So you're running from the government, SHIELD, and the X-Men. Did I miss anyone?"

"Well I am a little late in calling my mom," Acacia replied.

"Seriously?" she snapped. "What in the world possesses you to come to New York where the government watches constantly over things?"

"I missed you?" Acacia tried with a bit of nervous laughter. She sighed when it was clear Elaine wanted answers. "I just needed to be somewhere with something familiar. It seems like it would be easier to blend in with a crowd of people rather than a remote little town."

"You forgot one very important thing though," Elaine snarled. "I happen to work for SHIELD and you're on our wanted list."

"What number?"

"Number eight," Elaine replied watching as the girl came towards her. She tried so hard to ignore the big brown eyes that seemed almost swelled with tears.

"I promise I can be out of your hair in a week and have my own place to live," Acacia stated. "Just give me a week."

"I'm only giving you a week," Elaine sighed. "You can sleep on the couch and try not to attract any attention to yourself. I have to ask though. Why do you keep running?"

"I just never want to become a statistic."

OO00OO

"Tony I said no," Steve repeated. "I have no reason to hire an assistant."

"Of course you do," the man replied. He watched as Steve seemed slightly more irritated than usual. He was almost always in a good mood after he went out for a run, so he wondered what could have made him annoyed. "She could organize your personal life. You know, like schedule appearances and stuff. Maybe clean up a little around here. Besides all of us here now have someone that represents us. That is except for you Captain."

Steve gave the man a look that said he didn't need this right now. He had enough to worry about without having to shift through background checks and possible applicants. He couldn't have someone that would get annoyed with him, but maybe they shouldn't be attached. Or should they? He really didn't know.

"I don't have the time to look for a good one," Steve protested. "If I did maybe I'd look for one."

"Leave that to me!" the man exclaimed. Steve frowned at his expression. It was too happy. "I'll find the best possible one."

OO00OO

"What the hell?" Elaine said. She glanced at Acacia in her living room. Elaine was a dishevel mess while the girl still looked human. Acacia was using her lap top for something. "Did you just get up? It's only four thirty."

"Nah," Acacia responded. "You know my acute insomnia? Well, it got worse. I maybe get to sleep once or twice a week thanks to chronic insomnia."

"That's rough," Elaine muttered. She walked over to the couch Acacia was on. "So what are you looking at? Not porn I hope."

"Stop trying to be funny that's my job. You're my sense of reason." Elaine scoffed at her before glancing on to the screen.

"You're looking for a job already? You work fast. Besides if I was the voice of reason I would have made you turn yourself in. It's not like you did anything wrong besides run away. Okay, run away from high profile government agencies, but you never committed a crime before that. I just can't‒"

"Its fine," she cut her off. "You could say all the running makes life interesting. Ha! I found one!"

Elaine watched as Acacia's nimble fingers worked their magic on the key board. Acacia quickly edited the fake information to change a few of her references. She made it so she was literally set up to get the job. Elaine wondered when she learned how to do that. She had taught Acacia the basics, but that was pretty advanced.

"Where did you learn how to do all that so quickly?" Elaine asked.

"Why are you jealous Ms. Hacker-extraordinaire?" Acacia teased. "I learned it from _Hacking for Dummies_ surprisingly that book is real and legal."

"See that is one of the reasons why I sometimes say I should move to Canada," Elaine sighed. "I'm going back to bed."

"Cool." Acacia watched as the other girl trudged to leave the room. "I'm using your card to buy new clothes. Also I'll pick up breakfast. I'm leaving at five for an early bird sale!"

"Be happy I love you…" Elaine muttered before going back to her bedroom.

OO00OO

Steve was over the whole interview thing by now. It had turned into a bunch of flirting on Tony's part and some signing autographs on his. He ignored some of the more sexually based comments from women. Really? He was still appalled at how so many young women could have so little respect for themselves. They all came in with skirts that were too short and heels that were too high.

"Tony I don't think I can handle much more of this," Steve said after the last girl left. She had just been full of sexual innuendos that even he could pick up on. Some of the girls really shouldn't wonder why they are unemployed.

"Some of them were pretty attractive," Tony teased.

"Tell that to Pepper," Steve retorted. That made the confident male close his mouth. He adjusted the collar of his shirt before clearing his throat.

"The last one seems promising…" he said looking at the next applicant. "Although, she never went to college and is really young. Her background check was also squeaky clean. She's probably the only one that way too. Acacia Smith age nineteen currently unemployed due to a change in location to support a friend going through a difficult time. She sounds so sweet, but it's probably all lies. No one is honest about these things. You can come in now!"

The door opened and in walked a young girl. The first thing he noticed was the modest, not skin-tight skirt that brushed her knees. She was also wearing shear black tights with a polka dot patter on them that seemed to match her light pink blouse. Her hair was tied back in a pony-tail that was short and revealed her small black earrings. Stylish black glasses seemed to hide doe like brown eyes from him.

He couldn't explain the feeling when she seemed to stare back into his blue eyes.

"Let's get married."

OO00OO

Acacia could curse herself the moment those words sipped from her lips. She had even slapped a hand over her mouth to take it back, but if the stunned look on the two male's faces were any indication, it didn't work.

The man in front of her was incredibly handsome and she had spoke before thinking. The last time that had happened she was in middle school. To say she was embarrassed by the other one laughing at her would be an understatement.

"Sorry?" she tried. "You could call it a bad habit I have… I like to scare men off with commitment."

The one she had been talking to seemed to regain his composure. The other one had a million dollar smirk across his face still.

"Why don't you sit down and we'll disregard that and continue on with this little interview," Smirky said. She decided that would be his name from now on.

Acacia remained cool and sat down in the chair managing to keep her head up. She looked at the two men in front of her wondering why they were vaguely familiar. Maybe this job would be harder to get than she thought.

"Let's start out with…" he trailed looking down at the paper. "Well in all honesty you are the least qualified one for the job." Acacia caught the look the other male gave him. "You haven't been to college and only have two job references. Both of them strongly recommend you, but that doesn't beat college."

Acacia narrowed her eyes at him analyzing him. It was just too obvious.

"I am smart enough to tell that you're lying to me right now," she replied. "I'm guessing since this was an anonymous post that both of you are very private people. You probably received a great number of applicants and narrowed it down to the ones who were first qualified. Now you're just trying to figure which one of us you can stand. I'm also guessing that you narrowed it down to just women to get your friend laid."

She watched amusement evident in her features as the two men in front of her gaped. She felt smug about it until she realized she had basically just insulted her possible employers. She'd scold herself later.

"Why aren't you in college?" the other one asked for the first time. Acacia looked at him again seeing the sincerity in his eyes. That was a rare trait for men these days.

"I didn't have the grades or the money," Acacia answered. "I really need this job to get back on my feet and help out a friend, but I'm sure you hear that from everyone."

"You are aware that this is a live in job?" the blonde inquired. Acacia nodded her head. "And that you may be asked to do weird tasks and sworn to secrecy at any moment?" Again Acacia nodded her head. "Then as far as I'm concerned you're hired."

"What?" Acacia and Smirky said at the same time. The shock was evident in their faces.

"Out of everyone who was here you were the most conservative," he explained. "It would be to my benefit and the rest of the teams if we could avoid scandals."

"Well in that case report in to the tower at six o'clock," Smirky said. The two got up to leave.

"Wait," Acacia said getting up. "What tower do I need to be at?" the two looked at her like she just exclaimed she was an alien.

"Do you not know who we are?" Smirky asked. Acacia nodded her head. "Well I'm Tony Stark and that's Steve Rodgers. We're also known as Iron Man and Captain America."

Well, shit.

OO00OO

As soon as Acacia made it back to Elaine's apartment she let out a shaky breath. The girl had always been confident in her decisions. She had always been intelligent if not a bit reckless. This was too much. A very private offer for employment was great for her. It would keep her off of the radar as much as possible. However, a private offer to help a core member of SHIELD that was almost vital to the earth's survival was not going to help her.

She was walking into the lion's den. Not only that a full state of the art den complete with a back up super powered security if needed. This was not in any way good for her. She walked to Elaine's room packing some of the clothes she bought earlier and things Elaine said it was okay for her to take.

Sighing she picked up the disposable cell phone Elaine had for her and dialed her work phone.

"I'm _sorry, but the private is unable to talk to you right now_," an overly pleasant voice answered.

"Well this is Karen and I have urgent news for her," Acacia said in a somewhat grave tone. "I really need to speak to her about her test results. It isn't just her life resting in her own hands."

"_Excuse me then_," the voice said quickly. Acacia rolled her eyes at how a member of SHIELD could fall for something that easily.

"_What are you thinking calling me at work?_" Elaine's voice whispered harshly.

"Well, I got myself into a sticky situation," Acacia reported. "Turns out that secretary job I went to interview for was for Captain America. Due to the circumstances of looking suspicious I accepted."

"_YOU WHAT_!" she yelled. Acacia heard her apologize to her coworkers briefly. "_Are you crazy? You're close enough to the danger already without waltzing up to the government's front door_."

"I know," Acacia said defeated. "For some reason I just couldn't say no. You know he kind of looks like a puppy and I have to help poor little animals."

"_Acacia, he's six foot two with enhanced strength and a hero complex_," Elaine stated. "_He doesn't need your help_."

"Yeah, I know." Acacia paused for a moment. "I just called to say goodbye. I'll probably be monitored for a while and it won't look good to anyone if I contact you. The more I make myself detached the better. The last thing I need is for Tony Stark to try and dig up information on me. He'd find it in ten seconds flat probably. I'm not sure if and when I'll talk to you again. I have to be at Stark Tower at six and traffic in this city is a bitch. Thank you for everything."

"_You're welcome_," Elaine responded. "_One day something will make you want to stop running. When that happens turn yourself in and not even the government can ignore your humanity_."

Acacia set the phone down after Elaine hung up. Sighing to herself. Elaine was valedictorian of their high school and recruited at nineteen to work for SHIELD. That usually meant she was never wrong.

OO00OO

**I honestly have enough stories going on, but I finished where I wanted to for this chapter so I figured I might as well post it. Let me know what you think or if there is anything you think I should fix. I'm open to all politely stated suggestions.**


End file.
